Northwest

FILE - In this May 8, 2003, file photo, a northern spotted owl sits on a tree branch in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp Sherman, Ore. Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to preserve protections for 3.4 million acres of northern spotted owl habitat from the US-Canadian border to northern California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed protections for the old-growth forest in the last days of the Trump administration.

Feds propose reversing reduced protections for northern spotted owl

July 22, 2021, 1:01pm Latest News

CENTRALIA — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to reinstate 3.2 million acres of protected habitat for the northern spotted owl, potentially scrapping what was described as a win for Lewis County and the timber industry earlier this year. Read story

FILE-In this June 18, 2021 file photo, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks to reporters during a visit to Acadia National Park in Winter Harbor, Maine. Haaland is visiting her home state this weekend, Saturday, July 17, to celebrate what marks the largest wilderness land donation in the agency's history. The donation from the Trust for Public Land increases the size of the Sabinoso Wilderness in northeastern New Mexico by nearly 50%. (AP Photo/Robert F.

Interior secretary: Drought demands investment, conservation

July 22, 2021, 12:30pm Latest News

DENVER — Confronting the historic drought that has a firm grip on the American West requires a heavy federal infrastructure investment to protect existing water supplies but also will depend on efforts at all levels of government to reduce demand by promoting water efficiency and recycling, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland… Read story

FILE - In this June 8, 2021, file photo, Tracy Stone-Manning listens during a confirmation hearing for her to be the director of the Bureau of Land Management, during a hearing of the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. West is facing pressure to withdraw over her ties to environmental activists convicted of spiking trees to sabotage a national forest timber sale more than 30 years ago.

Democrats back Biden U.S. lands pick assailed by Republicans

July 22, 2021, 11:20am Latest News

BILLINGS, Mont. — A U.S. Senate panel deadlocked Thursday on President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee vast government-owned lands in the West, as Democrats stood united behind a nominee whose credibility was assailed by Republicans over her links to a 1989 environmental sabotage case. Read story

Notary public Julia Carlson, left, stands in Point Roberts, talking to Khue Le and his wife, Shelby, in Canada.

Biden’s border decision extends pain for Point Roberts residents

July 22, 2021, 10:30am Northwest

POINT ROBERTS — The Biden administration’s decision to keep the U.S.-Canada border closed through Aug. 21 is another gut punch for Point Roberts, the Whatcom County community left isolated due to COVID-19 restrictions for more than a year. Read story

The Staten Island Ferry departs from the Manhattan terminal through a haze of smoke with the Statue of Liberty barely visible, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in New York. Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that's currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high.

EXPLAINER: As wildfire smoke spreads, who’s at risk?

July 22, 2021, 9:23am Health

BILLINGS, Mont. — Smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada is blanketing much of the continent, including thousands of miles away on the East Coast. And experts say the phenomenon is becoming more common as human-caused global warming stokes bigger and more intense blazes. Read story

Washington AG rejects opioids settlement, wants trial

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson talks to reporters in August 2019 during a news conference in Seattle.

July 22, 2021, 9:15am Health

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Wednesday said he has formally rejected the state's proposed part of a $26 billion settlement with the nation's three largest drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson related to the opioid addiction and overdose crisis. Read story

Portland approves $600K to settle cop’s fatal shooting

July 22, 2021, 9:06am Northwest

PORTLAND — The City Council in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday approved a $600,000 payment to the family of a 24-year-old shot and killed by police after a foot chase that outside consultants later criticized as a police policy violation. Read story